Discourse Analysis Theory

Insidious Iago: The Use of Devious Lectures to Destroy Political and Social Hierarchies  The Quest to Gain the Upper Hand

diagram Contradicting /Crafty Advice

DISCOURSE Quest for Upper Hand

Miscegenation and Cultural Associations Characterizing Discourse

Power Struggle: Social Structure

Utilizing Crafty, Contradictory Advice  Produce Social Turmoil P: One uses mindless, contradictory and discourse and Gain anadvice Upper Hand as a means to producing social turmoil for his or her own benefit or “upper hand.” E:

Iago: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock / The meat it feeds on” (III.iii.165-67).

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CONTRADICTION

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“Wear your eyes thus: not jealous nor secure” (III.iii.198). P: “[Discourse] is about ambiguous and contradictory discourse to produce a social reality…Our ability to act strategically is limited by the discourses that accompany our intervention and the complex processes of social construction that precede it” (Phillips 2).

Political and Social Structure: Causation to Utilize Discourse as Means to a Higher Power P: Political and social hierarchies often act as a causation to utilize discourse as a means to a higher power. E: Iago: “Let me see now, To get his place and to plume up my will In double knavery. How? How?” (I.iii.330) P: “Classification has crucial effects such as whether political processes and relations are predominantly represented, understood, and acted upon in terms of a division” (Fairclough 88).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItEf 0:56 to 1:40

P: “…systematically explore opaque relationships of causality between a) discursive practices and events and b) wider social and cultural structures and relations; ideologically… are shaped by relations of power and struggles over power” (Fairclough 132).

Cultural Association: Incorporating Customs into Strategic Discourse

P: Cultural differences and associations are often employed in strategic discourse in order to facilitate the process of character manipulation and conniving schemes. E: Iago: “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe” (I.i.8586).

P: “Iago’s ploy to string Roderigo along P: “[Critical Discourse] is essentially is assisted by his assurance…[that] dealing with an oppositional study of miscegenation is an issue on the level… the structures and strategies of elite of language, especially of black and discourse and their cognitive and social white and their cultural associations, conditions and consequences, as well [which] characterize the play’s as with discourses of resistance against discourse: “black ram,” “white ewe”” domination” (van Dijk 19). (Howard 45).

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Interpretati ons

Contradictory Discourse (Slide Three)  Discourse is utilized in vague and contradicting methods in order to gain the “upper hand.” When inflicted properly, discourse creates an inability to think rationally, and thus often results in social turmoil (as shown through Iago’s contradictory use of discourse with Othello). Social/Political Involvement: Power (Slide Four)  Discourse is often utilized when one’s social or political “ranking” is not, idealistically, as superior as one may desire. A power struggle is inevitable in regards to the discourse theory, and one would take critical action to change his or her status on a social or political hierarchy (as shown through Iago’s conniving plans to manipulate numerous characters for his own gain). Cultural Association (Slide Five)  Discourse plays an essential role in characterizing cultural differences and associations. By strategically developing a way to make use of language and communication, one enables his or herself to facilitate the process of character manipulation, which, again, results in personal gain (as shown through Iago’s manipulation to anger Brabantio and convince Roderigo to fall into his ploy).

Synthesis The Critical Discourse Analysis Theory is a carefully crafted system composed of either a) contradictory language, b) a common desire for power in a political or social hierarchy, and/or c) the incorporation of cultural associations to bring forth consequential results. Discourse, on a fundamental level, is the integration of language to gain the “upper hand” in a power struggle.

Works Cited Fairclough, Norman. Discourse in Late Modernity. Columbia: Columbia UP, 1999. Howard, JeanJean E. "Shakespeare Reproduction: The Text in History and Ideology." British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. Methuen &Co Ltd and Methuen, Inc., 1987. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. . Phillips, Nelson. "Discourse Analysis: Investigating Processes of Social Construction." JSTOR. Sage Publications, Inc., 2002. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. . Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York: New American Library, 1998. Van Dijk, Teun A. "Aims of Critical Discourse Analysis." Japanese Discourse, 1995. Web. 2 Dec. 2009. .